The present invention relates to a vehicle armrest and particularly one which moves in two planes as it is extended from a compact storage position to a use position.
Armrests typically pivot between a raised position to a lowered use position in a vertical plane. The armrest occupies the area immediately adjacent the side of the seat back when in a retracted stored position and rotates in a single axis and in a vertical plane to a lowered use position. In vans and particularly mini-vans, it is desirable to allow room between front seats such that a person can move from the front of the vehicle to the rear area of the vehicle. Conventional armrests severely restrict such access.
Also, with the advent of today's relatively compact vehicles, the space between front seats typically cannot easily accommodate a pair of armrests, with one each for the driver and passenger sides, let alone a pair of armrests which have a width which provides comfortable support of one's forearm. Thus, single armrests are usually provided or the armrests are relatively narrow and therefore uncomfortable.
Further, in many vehicles, a parking brake lever extends between the front seats and an armrest can interfere with its operation when lowered. In order to overcome the latter problem, an armrest is disclosed in Offenlegungsschrift DE 3432084 A1 published on Mar. 13, 1986, which pivots downwardly from a seat back and then rotates outwardly to present a concave edge which faces the seat occupant. A linear edge is spaced from an adjacent armrest of mirror image construction to provide access to a parking brake control lever. Although such a design provides for two plane movement of an armrest between storage and use positions, it does not provide easy control for the user nor does it provide an armrest of a substantially uniform width along its length for providing comfortable support for a persons arm.